Bio Blast: St. John's guard Joson Sanon

Kentucky’s starting backcourt for the 2026-27 season appears to be set in stone. The additions of Washington transfer Zoom Diallo and Furman transfer Alex Wilkins create a talented two-man punch at the guard positions. But head coach Mark Pope could still use some depth behind them.

Someone to keep an eye on is St. John’s guard Joson Sanon, who is reportedly hearing from the Wildcats, among several other big-name schools. Listed at 6-foot-5, 200 pounds, Sanon has been a solid three-point shooter during his two college seasons. St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino managed to steal away Donnie Freeman from Kentucky earlier this portal season — could Pope repay the favor by taking one of his former players?

On3 ranks Sanon as the 58th-best overall player and the 13th-best shooting guard to hop in the portal this offseason. He’ll have two years of eligibility remaining at his next stop. No visits have been publicly reported at this time. Let’s get to know him a little bit better through another edition of KSR’s Bio Blast.

From Arizona State to St. John’s

If Sanon’s name sounds somewhat familiar, that might be because former Kentucky head coach John Calipari was recruiting him out of high school. Sanon was considered a top 30 prospect from the 2025 class while at Vermont Academy (VT), and he even took an unofficial visit to UK in March 2024 — right before Calipari left for Arkansas. He ultimately landed at Arizona and reclassified to the 2024 cycle, choosing the Wildcats over Kentucky, Kansas, UConn, Boston College, and Overtime Elite. However, Sanon flipped his commitment to Arizona State a couple of months later, joining Jayden Quaintance as an incoming freshman with the Sun Devils.

Sanon made an immediate impact as a true freshman for head coach Bobby Hurley. He started nine of his 27 games played in 2024-25, averaging 11.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, and one assist in 28.2 minutes per outing. He shot 42.2 percent from the field and 36.9 percent from deep on 4.5 attempts per game. He posted 14 double-digit scoring games, including three with at least 20 points. His season-high was a 28-point outing against Utah.

From there, Sanon transferred to St. John’s for the 2025-26 campaign as one of the top portal prospects. His numbers took a noticeable dip in the Big East, dropping to per-game averages of 7.9 points and 2.4 rebounds in 20.9 minutes. He nearly shot the ball better from three (33.6 percent) than he did from two (34.1 percent) while starting 14 of his 37 games played. Sanon was tabbed to the Preseason All-Big East Third Team, but did not live up to expectations. He dropped 12 points against Kentucky, shooting a perfect 12-12 from the free-throw line in that 78-66 loss for St. John’s.

Sanon took the floor in all three of St. John’s NCAA Tournament games, averaging 16.7 minutes per contest along the way, but he only managed to score a combined nine points on 3-16 shooting. His best overall performance came against DePaul in conference play: 15 points, nine rebounds, and two blocks in 32 minutes as a starter.

What the advanced stats say about his game

As mentioned above, Sanon’s shooting numbers were not all too impressive. His effective field goal percentage of 42.9 last season ranked him in the 18th percentile among all guards, per CBB Analytics. He was a capable outside shooter, especially from the left side of the floor. Sanon shot 36.6 percent on above-the-break triples, but struggled with his corner looks at just 22.6 percent. He also shot a poor 40.7 percent on layups, which ranked him in the 13th percentile.

Sanon graded out as an average rebounder on both sides of the floor at St. John’s. His assist percentage was low, but so was his turnover percentage. To be transparent, the advanced numbers are not too kind to his game. He graded out well as a defender whenever he was on the floor, helping St. John’s post a defensive rating of 103.9 (85th percentile), but the Red Storm did even better on that end when he was off the floor with a defensive rating of 97.0 (98th percentile).

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